Chronicles of Narnia Susan & Lucy Barbie Costumes

Description

Here are some more of my Barbie Doll costumes! This time they are replicas of the dresses Susan & Lucy Pevensie wear in The Chronicles of Narnia movies. I made these for my sister (who is a Narnia fan like me) over the last two years. Some of them were Christmas presents, and some were birthday presents.
I’ll break them down one by one.

1. Lucy’s Blue Dress & White Underdress from Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe. This dress was pretty easy to make. I used a princess-seam dress pattern that I drafted myself. I used medium blue polished cotton for the overdress. In the movie, the underdress is made of satin: but for my version I used cotton, because it is much easier to work with on a small scale. I hand-embroidered the floral motif on the bodice and the sleeves. I used a facing to create the interesting neckline; and I even added the tiiiiny little buttons. In the back, I embroidered some "X"s, to look like a lacing closure.

2. Susan’s Green Dress & Blue Underdress from Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe. I used green linen scraps from my Green Medieval Dress Project for this dress. For the light blue underdress, I used a polyester lining-material. I embroidered the brown “cord-closure” at the neckline, and the vine design on the bodice and sleeves. The overdress sleeves on my version are a tad too short, but oh well.

3. Lucy’s Coronation Cape from Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe. In the film, this cape is made of stamped velvet: but the closest I could get to the look of it was a satin brocade. I lined it with light blue cotton. I used a gold 1/2" button for the “clasp” at the neck, and put a hook & eye under it to close the cape.

4. Susan’s Purple & Green Dress w/ Cape from Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe. This is a dress that Susan wears as an adult in the end of the movie. I didn’t have many reference images at the time I made it, so the green “puff” at the back of the sleeve is a little inaccurate. However, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. The engineering of the dress was really complicated. It actually is just one piece (no underdress), made with a green “panel” behind the faced split in the front. For the main fabric, I used embroidered purple faux-suede. For the “under-section” I used olive poly-silk. The lavender parts of the sleeve in the film are velvet, but I had to substitute with faux-suede. The cape (made of wine satin and lined in gold polyester) is sewn to the back of the dress in the neck seam. I hemmed the skirt with single fold bias tape. I “laced up” the front with purple embroidery floss.

5. Lucy’s Red & Dusty Orange Dress w/ Cape from Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe. This dress is also worn by an adult Lucy at the end of the movie. I’m pretty sure I got all the details right on this one. I used crimson broadcloth for the main part of the dress. For the upper sleeve, I used matching panne velvet. The lower sleeve is lined with gold-green poly-silk. The cape is rust-orange gauze, lined with gold poly-silk: and is sewn to the dress at the shoulders. The trim on the top is 1/2" cream ribbon under a 1/8" silver trim. I sewed the tiny jewelry chain across the neckline, and sewed two 1/4" gold bead caps to the shoulders like cloak-clasps. I hemmed the skirt with single fold bias.

6. Lucy’s Yellow/Gold Dress & Surcoat from Narnia: Prince Caspian. This dress only appeared in the movie for about five seconds. When in the “treasure room” in Cair Paravel, Lucy pulls it out of a trunk to look at it. (“I was so tall!”) She never actually wore it. I only had one photo to use for reference, but I think I got pretty close to the original. The “surcoat” overdress is made of light gold panne velvet. I cased the hem in gold brocade. The sides are “laced” up with embroidery floss. The neckline is trimmed with gold fur, chain, and two buttons. The underdress is made of hand-dyed yellow slubby poly-silk. The sleeves are lined with gold brocade, and trimmed with gold metallic trim. I hemmed the skirt with bias.

I loved making these dresses, and plan to make more costumes from the films in the future.

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